Resources mentioned in this episode include:

Revitalize & Replant is sponsored by the North American Mission Board and ChurchReplanters.com. More than 10% of churches in North America are at risk of closing and the North American Mission Board is committed to reversing this trend by decreasing the death rate of existing churches while simultaneously increasing the birth rate of new churches. To learn more about what it means to become a replanting pastor or to explore resources for replanting and revitalization in your own church, visit ChurchReplanters.com.

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Comments

Thom, I am writing about a blog post I saw from a few years ago concerning which hours are more popular on Sunday morning. I would’ve left this comment on that post but didn’t know if you’d see it from a old post. I understand that 11 am is no longer the sacred hour for many people on Sundays. For churches with multiple services many are choosing to attend that mid morning time slot. I’m the high school pastor at a church that has 3 services…8:15, 9:30, 11. For the last 15 years we’ve had 5-8th grade meet at 9:30 and 9-12th grade meet at 11. We’ve done this because we were both using the same space. You can imagine the nightmare this creates for families who have kids in both ministries, which there are many. We’ve had people leave our church over this issue that we have split hours in student ministry. Now we’ve resolved the space issue so both ministries can meet simultaneously but now we’re in this big debate about which hour to choose for both to meet. I want to go 11. Others think 9:30 is best. From the churches I’ve looked at that offer student ministry Sunday mornings, most I’ve found meet at the later hour. Our church is unique in that we have many more students come on Sundays instead of Wednesday. I understand that many young families prefer the earlier hour but do you have data on what you see student ministries doing on Sundays and how it fits with the greater church. Please give any input you can!

Q: If a missionary is going with the gospel to all the rest of the world anyway, does it really matter from whence he starts?

Why call it “revitalization”? Why not call it instead “traditional successful approach by prayerful evangelical believers to full biblical growth via life-changing ministry to the community”? That traditional approach used successfully by prayerful evangelical believers and leading to full biblical growth–for 100 years now in the US–is that taught by the SBC’s Arthur Flake. Only 5 steps, and taking each in its consecutive order kept/keeps local churches vitalized/revitalized continuously?

About 1:38 you mentioned an email wherein someone asked about the differences between Revitalization and Replant. The best and clearest definition I’ve heard came from Mark Hallock at Calvary Englewood:

**Revitalization: the church is in steady decline and on its way toward death. The church knows it needs help but typically is unaware of just how drastic the situation is. The church has no intention of becoming a different church, but desires to hire a pastor that will help lead them back to health and vitality as a congregation.

Church Revitalization = You + Existing People + Old Structure + Church History

**rePlant: A church is identified as a rePlant when they humbly and honestly acknowledge they are at risk for death within 5 years if no changes are made.

Church Replant = You + New Team & Existing People + New Structure + Church History

**The two key differences:
– Revi – you’re using existing people, constitution, etc. and slowly turning the Titanic.
– Replant – you bring in a team of people to join with existing members, and throw out the old structure (constitution, bylaws, etc.) and start that from scratch.

Step 1: Discover all the brighter tomorrows for which the congregation has the potential in its setting.

Step 2: Develop a SMART plan that will be used to capture all of the brighter tomorrows for which the congregation has the potential in its setting.

Step 3: Enlist and train the people who will work together to carry out the SMART plan that will be used to capture all of the brighter tomorrows for which the congregation has the potential in its setting. (This is the HR step; it serves as a fulcrum for leveraging the 4 other steps–so do not neglect this step.)

Step 4: Provide to the people enlisted/trained in Step 3 all the space and other resources they will need as they work together to carry out the SMART plan that will be used to capture all of the brighter tomorrows for which the congregation has the potential in its setting.

Step 5: Go, capture all of the brighter tomorrows for which the congregation has the potential in its setting (monitor for effectiveness and adjust the SMART plan as advancing; repeat repeatedly over time).

Research: Above is the traditional approach used successfully by SBC congregations of all sorts and sizes and ages in all kinds of urban and suburban and rural locations (North, South, East, and West) during the past 100 years in the US; if it were not for the use of that approach since 1920, many of the churches now requiring revitalization would not even have come into existence or have existed this long. Nothing was/is wrong with the approach–it still works everywhere it is worked by prayerful churches and their dedicated leaders as one tool for reaching communities for Christ. I recommend it still (so does LifeWay). Its use can be started today anywhere and by congregations in any condition (growing, plateaued, or declining)–and simply can be called “What God has blessed.”